There have been reports of businesses taking advantage of the pandemic and cashing in by hiking the prices of essentials on social media in recent times. The Economic Affairs Minister also said some business license has been cancelled after catching them hiking the prices. While there is no report of which and how many licenses have been cancelled, the practice found its way to rural areas too.
An in-charge of the Food Corporation of Bhutan Limited (FCBL) for the Silambi and Gongdue Gewogs in Monggar stands accused of charging higher prices for rice bags delivered at the doorsteps of the residents during the lockdown.
To meet the demand for essential items during the nationwide lockdown, FCBL deployed seven truckloads of essential items to Silambi and Gongdue Gewogs in Monggar. However, some residents of Silambi Gewog accused the FCB In-charge for charging higher prices than the rates approved by the government during the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the residents, the rates should be relatively lower in Silambi Gewog than in Gongdue Gewog as the distance between Silambi Gewog and Monggar FCB depot is much shorter than from Gongdue Gewog.
“When we asked the residents of Gongdue Gewog about the rate of the fifty-kilogram rice bag, the rate they charged was Nu 1590. In Silambi Gewog the rate for the same rice bag was different in different chiwogs. In Nagor chiwog the rate was nu 1580 while it was Nu 1700 in Silambi chiwog, whereas they were charging Nu 1590 for the same rice in Wama chiwog,” said Sonam Jamtsho, from Silambi Gewog in Monggar.
After receiving complaints from the public on the manipulation of price, Silambi Gewog Administration wrote a petition letter to the Weringla Dungkhag Administration to look into the matter on Tuesday.
“The relevant stakeholders inspected the case only after receiving the complaints from the public. On Tuesday, after conducting a meeting in the gewog, FCB In-charge agreed to refund the extra amount but we are not happy with the decision made. We are not happy because the decision came only after the public raised the concern,” said Thukten Tshering, also from the same gewog.
Weringla Dungkhag and Silmabi Gewog Administration said that prior to delivering the essentials items to the public they already asked the rates of essential items from the FCB In-charge of Silambi Gewog and the FCB Manager of Monggar FCB depot but they denied to provide the rates.
“Currently there is an FCB in-charge in our gewog. We invited him to the gewog to attend a meeting last time and during the meeting, we asked the price list of essential items from him but he denied to provide us with the list. We also called the FCB Manager of Monggar to provide us with the price list but he too failed to provide the rate. After getting complaints from the public, local leaders held a meeting in the gewog with the FCB In-charge and Weringla Dungpa. During the meeting the FCB In-charge admitted he charged higher prices to recover the losses incurred. We came to a consensus to refund the extra rate charged by the FCB In-charge and we also informed the public about the minutes of the meeting,” said Dorji Wangchuk, the Silambi Gup.
FCB In-charge of the two gewogs said that as the approved rates of essential items were already updated in the system, he could not do anything. According to a record maintained with FCB depot of Monggar, the existing rate of fifty kilograms of 551-rice bag would cost Nu 1590 in Gongdue Gewog while the same bag of rice would cost Nu 1672 in Silambi Gewog.
“Currently the route of transportation of goods is not yet updated in our system. Actually we used to transport goods from Nganglam in the earlier days and the rate of rice is relatively lower at Gongdue gewog. And since the route of transportation was not updated in our system, the rate of goods brought from Monggar was higher in Silambi Gewog,” said Tandin Wangchuk, the FCB In-charge of the gewogs.
However, he admitted to charging higher prices for the 50 kg rice and agreed to refund the extra rate to the public during the meeting on Tuesday among the gewog administration, Dungkhag and the FCB In-charge. The meeting also agreed to maintain the same rates for essential items delivered to both in Silambi and Gongdue Gewogs. The FCB In-charge also agreed to display the rates of essential items in the stock centre.
BBS tried to contact the Regional Manager of FCB in Samdrup Jongkhar but we couldn’t reach him.
Sonam Tshering
